First signs of old-growth structure and composition of an oak forest after four decades of abandonment (original) (raw)
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Tree species composition and historic changes of the Central European oak/beech region
Rüther, C. and Walentowski, H., 2008. Tree species composition and historic changes of the Central European oak/beech region. In: Floren, A. and Schmidl, J. (eds): Canopy arthropod research in Europe, pp. 61-88, bioform entomology, Nuremberg., 2008
After the ending of the final glaciations, tree species re-immigrated to Central Europe from their southern refuges. Fagus sylvatica (beech) was the last principal tree species to arrive at the northernmost areas of the Central European region, viz. northwestern Germany, Denmark and southern Sweden. Due to their high competitive ability, F. sylvatica plays a predominant role in Central European Fagion-forest communities, whose native ranges are lowlands and low mountain ranges. Depending on local soil and climatic conditions, other tree genera are included such as Quercus (oak), Picea (spruce) and Abies (¿ r) (both Pinaceae). Indeed, only under exceptional environmental conditions is the competitive ability of F. sylvatica limited in such a manner that other tree species may predominate. Even rare occurrences of one associated tree species within beech forests may assure a long habitat tradition for specialised biocoenoses. Since the Neolithic period, human activities interfered with the forest-covered regions of Central Europe. The forests were changed sig-ni¿ cantly by multiple historical uses and management techniques. Anthropogenic transformation of the forests was driven by wood pasture, pollarding techniques, litter utilisation, coppicing, coppicing with standards and high-forest systems (selective and clear-cutting). These had crucial effects on tree species composition as well as the stand climate of the forests. They changed the spatial and temporal structures of the stands as well as the cycling of soil matter. Another effect of human activities was drastic reduction of forest cover. The unwitting transition of tree species composition finished in the Middle Ages. Since then, human interference has concentrated on targeted timber selection. These alterations make clear that structural components and site conditions of commercial forests deviate considerably from those of the original natural forests. Modern management methods have to consider biodiversity and the degree of naturalness with regard to the tradition of old-growth trees, natural tree species combination and natural ground layer vegetation. Important standards for a sustainable forestry combined with conservation of biodiversity are heterogeneity, complexity and scale.
Acta Biologica Plantarum Agriensis
Serious oak decline was first detected in 1979-80 in a mixed sessile oak-Turkey oak forest (Quercetum petraeae-cerridis Soó 1963). This decline resulted important structural changes in the understory shrub layer. Despite of this, relatively few studies deal with shrub communities and shrub layer dynamics after oak death. The goals of this research were to determine the conditions of low shrubs and analyse the possible changes in this layer after 5 decades from the beginning of Síkfőkút research. Specimens which were lower than 1.0 m in height were categorized as low shrubs in the shrub community. In 1972 and in 2022, 16-17 native low shrub species were observed in the understory; 15 species were present continuously in the forest. The density of low shrubs was 87401 and 17317 specimen ha-1. The most common low shrub species was Ligustrum vulgare and 5 decades later Quercus petraea with 24.1% and 37.8% ratio. The mean height and mean diameter of low shrub species changed among 10.3-67.0 cm and 1.5-7.5 mm. The mean cover of these shrubs fluctuated between 35 cm 2 and 2026 cm 2 based on the two measured year. Our results suggest that the low shrub layer responded negatively to the biotic and abiotic factors under 5 decades; this is especially true to the density, cover and diversity indices of species.
Understory Condition in an Oak Forest After 4 Decades for Oak Decline in Hungary
2019
At the study area serious oak decline was detected from 1979-80 in a mixed oak forest, an area covered by a sessile oak–Turkey oak forest (Quercetum petraeae-cerridis). The shrub community was divided into low (lower than 1.0 m in height) and high shrub layer (≥ 1.0 m). The goals of this study were to determine the conditions of shrub layer and analyse the possible changes in the shrub layer after 4 decades of the serious oak decline. In 2017, 17 shrub species were continuously observed in the understory. The density of shrub layer was 25,103 specimens ha-1. The significant part of shrubs lived (91.6%) in the low shrub layer, with only a small part of them (8.4%) forming the high shrub layer. The most common species of the shrub community was Euonymus verrucosus with 1989 shoots in the monitoring plot. The mean height and mean diameter of the high shrub species changed between 1.29-8.74 m and between 0.81-9.61 cm. The mean cover of the high shrub species changed between 0.56 m2 and ...
Continuity and change in the vegetation of a Central European oakwood
The Holocene, 2012
The issue of continuity in deciduous oakwood vegetation has been in the forefront of woodland ecological studies for many decades. The two basic questions that emerge from existing research are whether or not oakwoods can be characterized by long-term stability and what may be the driving forces of the observed stability or change. To answer these questions in a well-defined case study, we examined the history of a large subcontinental oakwood (Dúbrava) in the southeastern Czech Republic with interdisciplinary methods using palaeoecological and archival sources. Palaeoecology allowed us to reconstruct the vegetation composition and fire disturbances in Dúbrava in the past 2000 years, while written sources provided information about tree composition and management from the 14th century onwards. The pollen profiles show that the present oakwood was established in the mid-14th century with an abrupt change from shrubby, hazel-dominated vegetation to oak forest. This change was most pro...
Nature Conservation, 2008
In the Spała Forests stand with above 140 years old oaks occupies 226 ha, it is about 1.5 % of forests surface. Almost 40% of this stand is protected within nature reserves. For this study, the best-preserved oak-stands localised in the timber forests (constituting next 40 %) were selected. In the given area were found: 287 species of vascular plants, 33 species of mosses and 2 species of liverworts. The population size of 50 endangered and protected plants was estimated. The identification of degenerate forms of plant communities indicates the impact of forest management on the flora. The most important factor responsible for degeneration is the planting of the Scotch pine. At present it is manifested by the domination of coniferous forests species and the rapid growth of expansive species in the herb-layer. The planting of European beech is also unfavourable for the oak-forests flora. The role of pinetization should decline (cutting of old pines, regeneration) in the future, but the planting of beech is going to have a dominate influence on the degeneration of old oak forests.
Instrumental measurement of health status of old natural sessile oak stands
Studia botanica hungarica
In Hungary increasing emphasis is put on the research regarding the naturalness of forests, because the so-called biosphere crisis-the global level degradation of our biotic environment-seriously aff ects the forest communities. Th is process can most spectacularly manifest itself in the decrease of forest size. Th e health status of forest stands is usually measured by visual measurements, but it is hard to eliminate subjective errors. Because of these, we carried out instrumental measurement with a 3D Acoustic Tomograph in the Kőszeg Mountains, the Börzsöny Mountains and in the Zemplén Mountains. Th e monitoring of health status was made in sessile oak stands which were older than 100 years in 2015. We found the best health status in the stands of the Kőszeg Mts. Th e maximum level of decay was found in the higher layers in relation to ground level because of the frost damage destroying the stands of the Börzsöny Mts. On the other hand, we experienced the highest decay in the lower levels of trunks regarding stands of the Zemplén Mts; this level of deterioration was continuously reduced towards the higher levels. Th e two diff erent trends are attributable to the site conditions and the origin of the stands.
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 2021
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